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jawnbc...will you take me to Riga? Please?
Only 12 more sleeps until the 2003 Eurovision Song Festival/Contest/Bloodbath on Saturday 24 May, live from Riga Latvia.
For those unfamiliar with this bullet train of cultural phenomenon, I should backtrack. Eurovision 101:
+In the 1950s, the European Broadcast Union (not the European Union, totally separate) decides to host an annual song contest. Simple rules include one song per country, a country could only participate if it agreed to broadcast the contest live in its entirety, and a jury would select the winner. Nice, simple.
+In the 1960s, the contest expands from 12 songs to a peak of 25. Artists of note (past current & future) begin appearing: Cliff Richard [lost twice], Lulu [won, in a 4-way tie], Julio Iglesias [lost], Brotherhood of Man [won], Olivia Newton-John [lost].
+In the 1970s ABBA proved a veritable international career could be launched from the Contest after winning with “Waterloo” in 1974—prompting a new rule that required singing in one of a country’s official languages. So Swedes can choose Swedish or Finnish; Swiss can do French, German, Italian or Romansch; and Irish can doEnglish or Irish Gaelic—and they chose a Gaelic song in ’72 (finished 15th of 18)
+the 1980s bring something new—popular voting by telephone in many countries (now the norm), and the jury system begins to lose favour. Ireland’s Johnny Logan wins twice [1980 and 1987; 2 other songs he wrote finish 1st and 2nd when sung by Linda Martin]. And it turns out he’s Australian (only one songwriter needs to be from the country represented)!
+In 1988 a young woman from Québec Canada wins, singing for Switzerland. Céline Dion also sez that fateful night in Dublin was when she and her grandfather—uh, er, husband-to-be—did you-know-what for the first time. Ew…
+The 1990s are the decade of Ireland….4 wins and 2 second place finishes, including 3 in a row. As the host in 1994 the Irish interlude entertainment is a little thing called Riverdance, still touring the world nearly a decade on.
What’s my point? Well, Eurovision has become a highlight of families across Europe and around the world (it’s shown to nearly a billion people, live or on tape delay, including TV5 in Canada). And many are the homothexualth who host Eurovision parties, including contests to guess the winners and losers. One website allows voting for the Barbara Dex Award, given to the performer with the most hideous outfit (the Greek guy last year so deserved it).
Here are some Eurovision links:
http://www.eurovision-db.com/ searchable database of all previous contests
http://www.esctoday.com/ gossip and news…at times quite bitchy
http://www.jcwchan.clara.co.uk/euros03.htm gives betting odds, based on internet voting
It used to be you didn’t hear any of the songs (except your own country’s) prior to the contest—nowadays they’re all viewable/downloadable in audio or video format. Kinda ruins it for me….
This year t.A.t.U, everyone’s favourite pseudo-lesbians are representing Russia. They promise to marry each other if they win. No “ringers” (artists currently hitmakers) have won Eurovision, though some has-beens (Brotherhood of Man, Katrina and the Waves, Céline, Lulu) have finished on top. We shall see…
Only 12 more sleeps until the 2003 Eurovision Song Festival/Contest/Bloodbath on Saturday 24 May, live from Riga Latvia.
For those unfamiliar with this bullet train of cultural phenomenon, I should backtrack. Eurovision 101:
+In the 1950s, the European Broadcast Union (not the European Union, totally separate) decides to host an annual song contest. Simple rules include one song per country, a country could only participate if it agreed to broadcast the contest live in its entirety, and a jury would select the winner. Nice, simple.
+In the 1960s, the contest expands from 12 songs to a peak of 25. Artists of note (past current & future) begin appearing: Cliff Richard [lost twice], Lulu [won, in a 4-way tie], Julio Iglesias [lost], Brotherhood of Man [won], Olivia Newton-John [lost].
+In the 1970s ABBA proved a veritable international career could be launched from the Contest after winning with “Waterloo” in 1974—prompting a new rule that required singing in one of a country’s official languages. So Swedes can choose Swedish or Finnish; Swiss can do French, German, Italian or Romansch; and Irish can doEnglish or Irish Gaelic—and they chose a Gaelic song in ’72 (finished 15th of 18)
+the 1980s bring something new—popular voting by telephone in many countries (now the norm), and the jury system begins to lose favour. Ireland’s Johnny Logan wins twice [1980 and 1987; 2 other songs he wrote finish 1st and 2nd when sung by Linda Martin]. And it turns out he’s Australian (only one songwriter needs to be from the country represented)!
+In 1988 a young woman from Québec Canada wins, singing for Switzerland. Céline Dion also sez that fateful night in Dublin was when she and her grandfather—uh, er, husband-to-be—did you-know-what for the first time. Ew…
+The 1990s are the decade of Ireland….4 wins and 2 second place finishes, including 3 in a row. As the host in 1994 the Irish interlude entertainment is a little thing called Riverdance, still touring the world nearly a decade on.
What’s my point? Well, Eurovision has become a highlight of families across Europe and around the world (it’s shown to nearly a billion people, live or on tape delay, including TV5 in Canada). And many are the homothexualth who host Eurovision parties, including contests to guess the winners and losers. One website allows voting for the Barbara Dex Award, given to the performer with the most hideous outfit (the Greek guy last year so deserved it).
Here are some Eurovision links:
http://www.eurovision-db.com/ searchable database of all previous contests
http://www.esctoday.com/ gossip and news…at times quite bitchy
http://www.jcwchan.clara.co.uk/euros03.htm gives betting odds, based on internet voting
It used to be you didn’t hear any of the songs (except your own country’s) prior to the contest—nowadays they’re all viewable/downloadable in audio or video format. Kinda ruins it for me….
This year t.A.t.U, everyone’s favourite pseudo-lesbians are representing Russia. They promise to marry each other if they win. No “ringers” (artists currently hitmakers) have won Eurovision, though some has-beens (Brotherhood of Man, Katrina and the Waves, Céline, Lulu) have finished on top. We shall see…
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no subject
Date: 2003-05-12 07:13 am (UTC)Oh, and I'm so glad you put Céline in the 'has-been' category.
no subject
Date: 2003-05-12 07:30 am (UTC)Well she was a teen queen in Québec and France...and considered passé when she won Eurovision at age 18.
no subject
Date: 2003-05-12 08:18 am (UTC)She's: http://www.livejournal.com/users/danizana/ .
no subject
Date: 2003-05-12 08:43 pm (UTC)+ Trans out and proud
+ A natural performer--rocked the stage!
+ The best song of the night
Some say she won because of her "gimmick" (grrrr)...but she owned da house in 98.
Birmingham will never be the same.
no subject
Date: 2003-05-13 01:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-05-14 09:58 pm (UTC)